The chronicles of my journey from UC to life with a j-pouch.

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(Out From) Under the Knife

Surgery #2 went really well and I am marking off the check list Dr. Hurst gave me as my guide to getting home.

IV out— Check

Solid foods— Check

Oral pain meds— Check

Walking on my own— Check

Catheter out— Check

Thickened stoma output— Check”ish”

The list is complete and now I am waiting to hear from Dr. Hurst and his team on when I can break out of here. My surgery was on Thursday morning so today puts me on day 5 of an estimated 7- 10 day stay in the hospital. I am hoping to hear that tomorrow is the day so keep your fingers crossed with me!

The best thing about getting home will be sleeping in a real bed and not having my vitals checked throughout the night. Those of you who have been in the hospital for any reason know that it can be hard to get the rest you need with everyone in and out of the room. With my experience, I have somewhat mastered the semi-selleping vitals check and blood draw. The hardest thing is to stay sleeping while getting a Heparin shot. If you have not experienced this, the medicine burns as it goes in and the needle prick leaves a bruise, so it is not pleasant to get even when you are wide awake. Also, with Heparin they try to stick it in a “meaty” part of the body and even with my 17 lb. weight gain since my last surgery, my 5’8”, 117 lb frame does not leave the nurses with many options.

I have my J-pouch now and will be letting it heal before Surgery #3, “the take down.” I am interested in how this new stoma will differ from my first one and am looking froward to experiencing life with a J-pouch.

One thing that I will miss when I go home is spending time with my little sister, Mattie. She lives in Chicago and visits me daily while I am here.